1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge which accommodates a recording medium in a case and is provided with a write-protect function which switches between a state in which recording of information to the recording medium is enabled and a state in which recording is disabled.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
Cartridges which accommodate recording media in cases are used as external recording media for computers and the like. Specifically, a cartridge has a structure in which a recording medium, such as a recording tape wound on a reel, a disc-form disc medium or the like, is rotatably accommodated in a case which has been formed to be hollow by matching peripheral walls of an upper case and a lower case together with one another.
Such a cartridge may be provided with a label area, at which a label is adhered to an outer face of the case of the cartridge. Commonly, details of what is recorded on the recording medium and the like (for example, a title and the like) are written on the label. The label area is formed, for example, by depressing (recessing) an upper face or rear face of the case in a substantially rectangular shape. Thus, an outer edge portion of the label area is surrounded by a peripheral wall. A user of the cartridge can adhere the label at a predetermined position and, because the label is positioned inside the peripheral wall (at the label area which is a recessed portion), the label will not protrude beyond the case.
However, with a conventional cartridge as described above, the shape and size of the label area are specified to substantially correspond to the shape and size of the label. Thus, spaces between the peripheral wall surrounding the label area and an outer edge portion of the label are narrow. Consequently, there is a problem in that labels that have been adhered are difficult to peel off.
Accordingly, enlarging the label area relative to the label has been considered. However, when the label area is enlarged, positioning accuracy of the label deteriorates. Moreover, because the label area is a thin wall portion of the case, enlarging the label area is not preferable with regard to strength. Furthermore, a label area which is provided at a rear face side of a case is generally formed to span substantially the whole of the rear face, and there is very little free space available for enlargement.